Safety-pin



(No Model.)

' J. JENKINS.

SAFETY PIN.

' No. 405,558. PatentedJune 18, 1889.

Inventor-.-

fl PI UNITED STATES PATENT ()EEICE.

JOEL JENKINS, OF MONTCLAIR, NEIV JERSEY.

SAFETY-PIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 405,558, dated June 18, 1889. Application filedIebruary 6, 1889. Serial No. 298,830- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOEL JENKINS, of Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Safety-Pins; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

My invention relates to that class of safetypins in which the pin-point is free to enter the shield from either side and be held and protected thereby, but is prevented from passing entirely through the shield from one side to the other thereof.

The object of my invention is to avoid the cumbersome width of shield required where two distinct pockets are formed to receive the pin-point, one on each side of a central bar or post bisecting the transverse arch. of the shield, and to attain all the advantages derived from the use of a pin of this class, with the neatness of appearance and facility of attachment found in the best class of safety-pins, in which the pin-point passes freely through the shield over the upper end of the central guide plate or bar and lodges in a single pocket, and the further advantage of greater ease and precision in entering the pin into the shield.

It. consists in the combination, with the shield of a safety-pin, as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed, of a yielding guideplate fitted to the bar of the pin opposite the open loop of the shield, to extend thence into said loop far enough to prevent the passage of the pin-point over its edge from the one side to the other, while it will yield so as to allow the point to find secure lodgment in the shield 011 either side of the plate.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation, upon an enlarged scale, of my improved safety-pin; Fig. 2, a transverse section in line as 00 of Fig. 1, illustrating the partition-plate in the shield in its normal position when the point is removed therefrom; and Fig. 8, a similar section showing the position of the partiti0n-plate when the pinpoint is lodged in the shield.

In the drawings, A represents the body of the pin B, its coil or spring; 0, the pin-point, and D the shield, of sheet metal, open on both sides to receive the pin-point when entered from either side, and which is secured to the unsharpened end of the body of the pin in the customary manner to engage, hold, and protect the sharp point of the pin when it is in use. In saidparticulars the improved safetypin may be made and fashioned in accordance with any approved form or pattern of pin now in use.

My improvement is found in the combination, with the open-sided shield engaging and protecting the pin-point, of a single central yielding partition post or plate, preferably made of thin sheet metal, and which is attached to the bar A of the pin opposite the concave hood or pocket of the shield which receives the pin, so as to project therefrom up into the concavity of the shield and form a vibrating partition therein adapted to positively prevent the point of the pin, after it has entered the shield from either side, from moving through the same to pass out 011 the opposite side thereof, but which, by yielding laterally within the pocket, will allow the point to enter itfreely and to fit closely therein.

E represents this yielding partition, the same consisting of a thin elastic plate of "sheet metal, one edge of which is folded about the body-wire A of the pin opposite the pocket or hood f of its shield D, to be firmly attached thereto in position to project therefrom up into said pocket or hood far enough to serve as an effectual bar to the passage of the pinpoint C laterally through said shield and its pocket. The partition-plate E may be left loose enough in its attachment to the bar A to vibrate thereon as a pivot, or, if it be sufficiently elastic to allow its free end to yield or bend readily, may be made fast to the bar, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. In either case, when the pin-point C is pressed against the partition plate E from either side, the free end of the plate will yield and move into contact with the opposite inner side of the pocket or hood f of the shield, as shown in Fig. 3, and the pinpoint will be guided thereby up into said pocket and be thereby secured, the partition-plate serving effectually to make the engagement of the point more positive and secure by preventing its passing out on the opposite side.

The Letters Patent granted to J. Jenkins on the 10th day of April, 188$,No. 380,896, describe a safety-pin having apivoted guide vibrating within the shield of the pin; but my invention differs therefrom in that it combines with the function of a guide, whereby the movement of the pin from either side into the shield is facilitated, the further function of a stop to prevent the pin from passing through the shield from one side to the other, while it permits at the same time the use of a comparatively narrow shield with such a stop and guide, thereby rendering the pin far lighter and neater in appearance and less expensive to manufacture than pins of this class as heretofore made.

I claim as my invention The combination, in a safety-pin, with a shield, but yields laterally to permit said point to enter, lodge within, and leave the shield from either side, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOEL JENKINS. \Vitnesses:

A. N. JESBERA, E. M. WATSON. 

